Cortisol is what helps regulate your metabolism, blood sugar levels, memory function and reduces inflammation. Cortisol is great.
BUT if you’re someone who is consistently stressed, have pituitary gland issues or are on certain medication, there’s a chance your cortisol levels may be high.
Signs your cortisol levels may be high:
- weight gain, mostly around the midsection and upper back
- weight gain and rounding of the face
- fatty deposits between shoulder blades
- deep purple stretch marks on your abdomen
- easy bruising
- muscle weakness
- severe fatigue, easily tired
- irritability
- increased anxiety levels
- difficulty concentrating
- high blood pressure
- headaches
- thinning hair
- difficulty waking up/low energy in the mornings and difficulty falling asleep/high energy at night
So what can you do?
- Let’s get it checked out by a doctor before we worry and add onto the stress.
- Identify stress triggers. Keep a stress diary and write down the fact. Then analyze what about the situation caused you a negative reaction.
- Learn to recognize thoughts that cause stress.
- Pay attention to the quality of your sleep.
- Exercise regularly. Try more low impact exercises and preferably avoid exercising at least 2 hours before bedtime.
- Find something to do. Try out different hobbies. Gardening, journaling, crocheting, art, learning something new, tufting, baking, pottery. The list is endless!
- Laugh often. A study published in 2008 found that even the anticipation of laughter leads to a decrease in blood levels of cortisol, as well as two other stress hormones, adrenaline, and norepinephrine.
- Get a pet. A study showed that interaction with animals affects stress and found that long-term interaction with dogs, even strangers, as well as pet ownership, has a positive effect on cortisol levels. In addition, the interaction between owner and dog increases the level of oxytocin in both.
- Eat more cortisol-lowering foods. Think dark chocolate, probiotics, black tea, green tea, avocados, green leafy vegetables, berries, bananas, nuts and seeds.
- Spend time in nature. A simple walk around the neighborhood, walking barefoot in the grass, birdwatching, gardening, a walk in the park! Just being outside and doing some deep breathing will work wonders.
